Convenience meals in the art comprising pasta layers typically take the form of a conventional lasagne comprising a plurality of pasta layers wherein each layer is separated by one or more sauce components. U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,085 discloses a typical lasagne meal prepared for the convenience of the consumer, comprising a unitary portion which is suitably pre-packed for preparation in a conventional oven. This type of product recreates the traditional lasagne for the consumer with minimal cooking input, however despite this advantage cooking times of such products are commonly long and detract from the overall convenience of the product.
Nestle patent EP 882 406 has sought to reduce the cooking time for a traditional style lasagne. This discloses a lasagne which is prepared from a series of disconnected frozen segments. When re-heated in a pan the segments stick together and form a united lasagne which resembles the traditional lasagne form. This product requires very viscous sauce components to effectively stick together the segments thereby relying on thickening agents which can compromise product taste and texture.
The present invention identifies a need to break away from the traditional product format of a lasagne to provide a novel and more exciting visual appearance while maintaining the flavour and textural contrasts that are enjoyed in traditional lasagne known in the art.
In particular it would be desirable to provide discrete small frozen lasagnes which have a short re-heat time and when prepared for consumption retain their integrity to allow a serving comprising a plurality of these small lasagnes to be made. Such a product allows the consumer to see layers of pasta and sauce from the discrete small lasagnes throughout the meal as opposed to a large unitary lasagne segment.
The objective technical problem therefore relates to the need to provide small frozen lasagnes which can be re-heated quickly for consumption while maintaining their integrity as discrete layered lasagnes during the re-heat process to provide a plurality of visibly layered lasagne portions on serving.